ALONGSIDE her premiership win as a player with Gisborne in 2013 and two as coach of the club's 17-and-under team, Tarryn Rymer viewed her appointment as the Bulldogs's A-grade coach for this season as one of the proudest moments of her netball career.
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Sadly, her first BFNL match as A-grade coach has yet to be played and won't be this year.
It follows Gisborne's decision to withdraw its netball and football teams from the 2020 season.
Rymer, who was only appointed coach in February, was fully supportive of the call made by the club's executive, led by president John Wood, and branded the decision a 'no-brainer' following a recent spike in the number of COVID-19 cases in suburbs neighbouring Gisborne's local government area of Macedon Ranges.
"Naturally, the players and coaches are all disappointed we are not going to be playing, but it's definitely the right decision," she said.
"Looking at the big picture, the health and safety of the players and community members is far more important than the risk it poses to everyone.
"We spoke to John (Wood) about it and in the end it was a no-brainer. When it's put to a vote, you can vote with your heart because you do want to play, but when you think about it, it's not in the best interests of anyone or everyone."
Rymer, who has expressed strong interest in coaching on in 2021, said consideration had already been given to resuming training again once COVID-19 numbers dropped, to keep the playing group socially connected.
"We trained pretty much from the second stage of Netball Victoria restrictions being eased and we had really good numbers in A and A-reserve and 17-and-under, so the girls were keen," she said.
"We thought we were going to get there (to a season), but Victoria's numbers growing, especially in areas where a lot of our players come from, it's not in the best interests for us to play.
"We've got players, who go to Maribyrnong College, so even if we did play those players would be affected."
When it's put to a vote, you can vote with your heart because you do want to play, but when you think about it, it's not in the best interests of anyone or everyone.
- Tarryn Rymer
Despite some changes in on-court personnel, Rymer felt there was no reason why the Bulldogs could not have again been in force in 2020.
The Bulldogs finished the 2019 season in fourth position and have been grand finalists as recently as 2018.
"We were definitely aiming for top three," Rymer said.
"We lost a few players, but gained a few and had some really good A-reserve players (Rylee Connell and Tazma Morris) and some fantastic under-17s, who were going to step up.
"They were all local girls, who were really committed. Committed to coming to training every week and putting in the work.
"I would really have loved to have coached that group of girls and see how far we could have gone, but it is what it is, hopefully they will all stick around and we will play together next season.
"It's been a testing few months, but I was really proud of the girls for pushing on without the prospect of a season."
Ahead of tonight's meeting of clubs with the BFNL board, Rymer emphathised will all officials, players and coaches, who were faced with the tough situation they faced in deciding whether a season should go ahead.
"It will be hard, I know a few clubs might be struggling for numbers with the changing of season dates," she said.
"Hopefully they can make a decision in the best of the interests of their clubs and the community as well.
"It will be interesting to see what they decide."
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